Chris Christie to announce today if he’ll run for president. Signs point to no.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has decided not to run for president, sources close to the governor said Tuesday, refusing to bow to pressure from GOP donors, fans and luminaries clamoring for another option in the search for a strong Republican to challenge President Barack Obama next fall.

His decision means that three months before voting is set to begin, the Republican race remains focused on two men — former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Christie’s decision, scheduled to be announced at the New Jersey statehouse in early afternoon Tuesday, was revealed by sources close to the governor who spoke on grounds of anonymity to avoid pre-empting his announcement.

Christie, the famously blunt, budget-cutting governor in office not even two years, had spent the past few days reconsidering his long-time refusals to run for the GOP presidential nomination in light of encouragement from GOP leaders.

The governor stoked the speculation with a high-profile speech last week at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif., where he reiterated that he wasn’t running for president, and a tour to help raising money for Republicans in Missouri, California and Louisiana.

Encouragement from Henry Kissinger, Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush led him to reconsider a bid, and he spent the weekend thinking over his options.

Christie’s announcement comes as a new national poll shows Perry’s support dropping after weeks of defending his Texas record and businessman Herman Cain rising following a much-praised debate performance. The Washington Post-ABC survey shows former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney regaining the lead, though his support remains in the same place it’s been for months — the mid-20s.

The push for new candidates like Christie and the quick rise and fall of others — like Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and real estate mogul Donald Trump, who also flirted with a presidential bid — reflect continued discomfort in the GOP with Romney. He has been steadily campaigning since he lost in the 2008 primary but hasn’t been able to sway skeptical conservatives who make up the party base.

Earlier story:

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has made a decision about whether or not he will run for president and will hold a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

Former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean, a longtime mentor to Christie, told The Associated Press that he has been informed of the governor’s decision but wouldn’t disclose it.

“I have to let him say whatever he says,” Kean said.

Christie has spent the past few days reconsidering his long-time refusals to run for the GOP presidential nomination in light of encouragement from GOP donors and luminaries looking for more options as they get ready to select a Republican to challenge President Barack Obama next fall.

His announcement comes as a new poll shows Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s support dropping and businessman Herman Cain rising. The Washington Post-ABC survey shows former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney regaining the lead, though his support remains in the same place it’s been for months — the mid-20s.

The clamoring for new candidates like Christie and the quick rise and fall of others — like Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and real estate mogul Donald Trump, who also flirted with a presidential bid — reflect continued discomfort with Romney, who has been steadily campaigning since he lost in the 2008 primary.

While Christie’s possible candidacy hung over the race, his two chief would-be rivals were conducting campaign business as usual.

Romney was preparing for a big speech on foreign policy, while Perry was planning a weekend dive deep into conservative northwest Iowa.

There are no signs that Christie is preparing for a bid; he has been silent in early-voting primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Neither Christie nor his political team has reached out to GOP strategists or top party officials in Iowa or New Hampshire as the first-term governor re-evaluates his oft-repeated refusal to seek the Republican nomination.

His lack of spadework would complicate an undertaking that already requires raising millions of dollars and establishing operations in several states simultaneously. Adding to the challenges, Florida last week moved its primary into January, pushing the start of the 2012 nominating contests to barely three months away.

But Christie’s renewed look at a presidential bid — without making a round of calls even to new, influential friends in Iowa and New Hampshire — reflects confidence within Christie’s circle that the adoring and hungry Republican elites who have courted him can compensate for his organizational deficit with momentum.

But early state operatives and donors say they haven’t heard much from Christie.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who has said he was wowed by Christie’s plainspoken style and call for revamping public employee benefits, would provide a natural entry point for Christie in the leadoff caucus state.

Christie advisers have kept in loose touch with some Iowa Republicans, led by Branstad’s top fundraiser, Bruce Rastetter, who urged Christie to run when they met in New Jersey in May.

Rastetter declined to say whether he had recently heard from Christie.

In South Carolina, organizers close to the New Jersey governor have been making calls to key activists in the first Southern primary state to feel them out on organization and strategy.

“People who are involved in trying to get the governor to run have begun to come up with campaign plans in case he decides to run,” said a South Carolina GOP leader who did not want to be identified to avoid pre-empting a possible Christie announcement. The Christie organizer “called up and said, ‘If he decided to run, do you think he would be able to be competitive in South Carolina?’”

Christie buzz was even quieter in New Hampshire. The governor has visited neither New Hampshire nor South Carolina since taking office last year.

There is a sense that time is very tight for Christie to assemble a team for the 2012 contests, expected to begin about a month earlier than planned with Florida’s decision to hold its primary Jan. 31. The move probably would force Iowa and New Hampshire into the early part of January.

Another complication for Christie is that other campaigns — already several weeks if not months under way — have gobbled up key staff in the early contest states.

“I haven’t heard from his people. And I haven’t heard of anybody who’s heard from any of his people,” said Jennifer Horn, a leading New Hampshire activist and recent congressional candidate. “Staffing certainly will be a challenge in New Hampshire.”

New Hampshire Republican National Committeeman Steve Duprey is more blunt.

“It’s virtually impossible” for someone like Christie, or even the better-known former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, to jump into the race with voting expected to begin in less than four months, Duprey said.

Longtime Branstad confidant Richard Schwarm said the same.

“If I’d been advising Gov. Christie, I would have said it’s too late before Florida moved up, now it’s certainly too late,” said Schwarm, a former state GOP chairman.

Despite the intense courtship from top national GOP donors, which picked up after Perry failed to impress some influential party elites in debates last month, little is known about Christie in early states. Activists are drawn to his national star power and no-nonsense public persona, but have not yet dug into his positions on social issues, such as gun, abortion and gay rights, central issues that are disproportionately influential to the early-state GOP base.

“At the 30,000-foot level he looks good. But he’s not being vetted as a presidential candidate yet,” said New Hampshire Rep. Frank Guinta, a Republican who says he hasn’t heard from Christie’s camp in several months.